University of Utah State offers new online program in recreation resource management

Officials from the University of Utah State recently announced that residents of Park City and Summit County can now enroll in online classes at the school's regional campuses and through its distance education program, the Utah Statesman reports.

The Swaner EcoCenter and Preserve, which was donated to the university in 2010, will begin offering online classes for the spring 2011 semester. Officials told the news source that the school will offer a web-based recreation resource management degree through the ecocenter.

Officials added that this program will help prepare students in managing outdoor settings, such as national and state parks.

"We are especially excited to be able to use the Swaner EcoCenter and Preserve as an educational facility because its mission is so closely tied to what we do in our department," Mark Brunson, department head of the environment and society at the school, told the news source

According to the 2010 Sloan Survey of Online Learning, online enrollment numbers have increased by 21 percent since 2009, which exceeds the 2 percent growth in the overall college student population.